Ace's Flight
by Yellow 13
Summary: another part of my series. oneshot
1. notice

The following is a collection of short, one-shot stories that explain how the Ace Combat characters/Squadrons joined the Soviet Union. There is no particular ORDER to this, so just read the ones you like.


	2. The Bringer of Death

'The Bringer of Death'

I hated my life. I had to constantly hide from the Authorities because I was STILL being hunted as an escaped killer. It wasn't my fault really, the young officer had seen me, and I was forced to kill him.

Of course, the local forensics department had matched the prints on the gun that they found at the crime scene to my own, and well… you get the idea. I had to run if I wanted to live. In Osea, they still had the Death Penalty, and I couldn't go back to my home of Yuktobania; too many people knew me there.

Eventually, some reporter found out where I was hiding out at that time and asked me a few questions about the Belkan War, my squadron, how I met the 'Demon Lord', how I was shot down, and so on.

"Do you think he's still alive?" he asked me.

"Is the Man still alive?" I replied. "Well, I guess it's hard for bad guys like us to die. The real heroes ALWAYS manage to die first, but guys like him, Solo Wing and me… we live the rest of our lives in Hell. But then again, being alive is proof that we were good." And I laughed.

He thanked me, promised me that he wouldn't tell anyone about where I was, but advised me to move to another area before he put his documentary on the air. When I heard about that, I moved to another abandoned building, then stole a TV from an electronics store in the middle of the night, and watched it.

The guy got most of his facts right, it seemed. He interviewed dozens of pilots, and they all gave what it was like for them to be shot down by the Demon Lord.

Eventually, the Soviet Union came for me. At first, I didn't know who it was. All I knew was that I was being chased all over Oured by these guys in suits. I had managed to lose them a couple of times, but a few days later, there they were again. Eventually, they cornered me, and I considered surrendering, but I knew that wouldn't work.

A few minutes after they cornered me, the KGB Leader, Volgin showed up. I almost died of a heart attack right there. I should have KNOWN this was coming. They were working in collaboration with the Osean Police, and they had found me. I waited for one of the Operatives to draw a gun and finish me off, but the Founder stared right at me and said: "Dominic Zubov, you have formally charged with Various War Crimes, Theft, Murder, Arson, and Resisting Arrest. Under the power vested in me under the Soviet Union, I am authorized to kill you. HOWEVER, my orders are to offer you a deal."

My mind was spinning. A DEAL? I just stood there like an idiot, mouth wide open and eyes wide. Volgin smiled.

"I take it from your expression that you will listen. Very well, the deal is that you fight and fly for us, the Soviet Union, in combat. You can have any plane you want, and we'll even reinstate you at your former rank. In return for your services, you will have your name completely cleared. A blank slate, a fresh start at a new life."

I had watched 'The Godfather' and knew what this was. This was LITERALLY an offer that I couldn't refuse. In fact I had almost expected him to say that.

Anyways, I signed on without hesitation, and I was taken to Allenfort Airbase on Newfield Island in the Usean Continent.


	3. The Fallen

'The Fallen'

I fought the Demon Lord over the skies of Directus, the capitol of Ustio. The Captain and I were late reaching the operational space, and by the time we got there, the bells were going off in the city. I was tempted to bomb those bell towers, but I was too concerned with fighting the Demon Lord and Pixy.

We fought as best we could, but in the end, we were both shot down. When I bailed out, and landed, the Captain was gone. He was killed in the sky, and I just stayed in the city. I lived a comfortable life since then.

They rang the bells of the city every night at dusk in honour of liberation of the capitol. It signals peace, but to me, they were the sounds of death. Those bells must have distracted me from the fight, and combine that with the fact that my plane was in disrepair, it was no wonder really that I was shot down now that I look back on it. Or maybe it was just because he was a better pilot then I was. I'll never know for sure.

About ten years after the Belkan War, a reporter came to me and asked if I wanted to be interviewed in a documentary he was making. I shrugged, and agreed. Other then my job, which I kept changing regularly, I had nothing better to do.

Once he was finished with me, I thanked him, and wished him luck with the documentary. I even did my best to contact some old friends in the military to see if I could find some of the other pilots. It was the least I could do.

About five years after that, I heard a rumour flying around that the Soviet Union was looking for experienced pilots to fly for them. I went to Newfield Island in the Usean Continent and signed up. I was assigned the lead position of the new Gelb Squadron, and I got a newbie assigned to be my number two.


	4. A Brother in Arms

'A Brother in Arms'

I should have died that day over Avalon Dam. I had shot down the young pilot PJ with a single shot from my Morgan -02's laser and then Cipher and I, my old buddy, started to fight. I had managed to fire the V2 nuclear MIRV missile, but I was shot down before it could lock on by itself.

After I got hit and bailed out, I dragged my wounded body to ground Zero of the seven nuclear detonations, and almost gave up right then and there. The only thing that stopped me was that people were still living there, eking out an existence from the aid packages that where continually dropped in by Osean, Belkan, and Yuktobanian forces.

They nursed me back to health, and eventually, I went to the Usean Continent to start over from scratch. Unfortunately, I arrived right at the start of the Continental War. It made me sick to my stomach to fight again, but I had to if I wanted to survive.

I went to the border city of Delarus and I was fighting to see for myself what 'borders' really mean. Do we still NEED borders? Would getting rid of them change anything? Would the world change for the better or for the worse if we got rid of them? I don't know, but that's what I believed, and I think that's enough.

After the Circum-Pacific Conflict, a new power, the Soviet Union started trying to contact all the pilots who flew in the Belkan War, and I went to see what was going on. The main 'rally point' for the pilots was on Newfield Island, specifically, Alanfort Airbase. That wasn't too far away from where I was at the time, so I left my militia and went there.

When I arrived, I looked around, and saw somebody I recognized. I snuck up behind him, and said: "Yo buddy, you still alive?"


	5. A Man who Lived for Battle

'A man who lived for battle'

Oh GOD it was dull working as a flight instructor. The sheer monotony of the work was enough to make me want to quit and join the military again. Of course, it also didn't help that I was lonely so much of the time.

I was a fighter pilot once, but after the Demon Lord shot me down, and I had walked right back to the nearest base, where I had handed in my resignation. The Base Commander had reluctantly accepted it, and I left to find a saner job, but a job where I could still fly.

I had considered a job as an X-Plane Pilot, a person that flies new, experimental planes and evaluates them, but I had refused those offers when I was shown them. X-Planes sometimes meant Fighter Planes, and I wasn't ready to fly in combat just then. So I went to an airfield in Belka and applied for a job there as in instructor for civilian pilots.

I had the experience, so I knew what to do, but like I said, it was lonely and dull. I wanted to get up into the sky again in a fighter plane, and fight the Demon Lord. The only drawback to that was that I didn't even know if he was still alive anymore.

Eventually, a reporter from the OBC came in one day and interviewed me about my time in the Belkan War. I was almost grateful for the break, and after that, I started considering flying fighter planes again. Of course, it did take my a few more years to decide, but eventually, I plucked up enough courage to go to Newfield Island and apply for a job in the Soviet Union.

I was quickly accepted, and I even got my wish to fight the Demon Lord again.


	6. The Strategist

'The Strategist'

I was more or less at ease with what I was doing after the Belkan War. In the city of Sudentor, it was easy to find jobs, but since it was an industrial city, it wasn't really anything I wanted to do.

Well, actually, there was something I wanted to do: Grunder Industries needed experienced pilots to fly their experimental aircraft and I had signed up. Of course, I made it clear to them that I wasn't going into an area that I'd need to fight anybody.

About a decade after the Belkan War, I was contacted by a journalist from Osea about the Belkan War. He wanted to ask me a few questions about it, and I accepted. We met at a place called "Pop's Diner' where we both had something to eat, and I could talk to him in a place I felt comfortable. I was a regular at that place, so the waitress knew what I'd have before I even said anything.

The only time I regretted not flying in combat was when Sudentor was under attack by Osean and Yuktobanian forces at the end of the Circum-Pacific Conflict. I had stayed in my shelter, and watched as the airbase where I flew was bombed to rubble by four black X-02 'Wyverns'.

Out of a job now, I had to find a new one. While I was reading a newspaper, I saw that the Soviet Union was hiring experienced pilots for combat roles that would take them on active combat duty.

I went to Newfield Island, with my last few dollars, and signed up for this. When I saw what we'd be fighting, I couldn't believe my own eyes. Aliens! We'd be fighting Aliens from another universe!

The Soviet personnel assured me; along with everybody else, that this was no joke and that we were free to leave if we so wanted. Seeing as how I had no job other then the one I had with these guys, I decided to stay and fight for them.

I saw the Demon Lord a couple of times, but at the time, I didn't know it was him. I had even made friends with him before I found out who he really was.


	7. A Revolutionary

'A Revolutionary'

Dark, quiet, borderless. That was my entire world.

My cell, the darkness, and a little window were my whole world. I was actually rather fond of it. The darkness enveloped me in a borderless world. A world with no boundaries.

I was in this cell for attempting to assassinate President Vincent Harling of the Osean Federation after the Belkan War. We almost had him, but the plan was leaked by somebody within our organization and most of us were killed. The ones of us that escaped capture were arrested.

I had long since lost track when I was in jail, but I heard from a guard that I was on my fifth year of my fifty-year incarceration. I didn't spend a lot of time with the inmates, and as such, when I did, they almost always wanted a fight with me.

By my twelfth fight against this really big, muscular guy that I beat just by smashing his face in, they stopped wanting to fight me. I may not look like much, but I've got it where it counts.

After a while, some reporter from the OBC came in. my only real visitor in the entire time I was locked up in there. He wanted to ask about my time in the Belkan War, and I told him what I could. Eventually, he left, and I was sent back to my dark, little cell.

Eventually, another visitor came for me. This one was military, but I didn't recognize the emblem that he had pinned to his uniform. He identified himself as the Supreme Commander of the Soviet Union, and offered me a way out of this cell.

I reluctantly agreed, and he told me that I'd be flying once again with another squadron. Although, he also warned me that if I should betray him, I'd be shot on sight.

Eventually, after some apparent negations with the judicial system, the President, and the Commander's own forces, I was released from jail, and given a warning. Not the kind of welcome I wanted, but who am I to complain?

I was sent to Newfield Island in the Usean Continent where I started re-learning all the tricks I used to be able to do.


	8. A Pilot that lives by Pride

'A Pilot That Lives by Pride'

My job at the University of Dinsmark as a professor of history was quite a step in the opposite direction from what I used to do. I used to be a fighter pilot, but at the Belkan War's conclusion, I was forced to take a different path in life.

I had no idea what went wrong on the day I was shot down. My squadron had been assigned to take down two enemy craft that had violated the B7R Airspace, an essential area that we couldn't allow to be violated. When I heard the order for reinforcements, I became angry.

Those two enemies had taken on the full might of the Belkan Air Force, and broke through. We couldn't allow that to happen, so we fought, and we were all shot down. I had no idea how the Demon Lord had managed to pull off those manoeuvres, but after being rescued by my allies, I vowed that I'd shoot him down someday.

Of course, at the War's conclusion, I thought I had betrayed myself into making a promise I couldn't keep. So I looked around for work, and eventually I received an offer to become a professor of history.

Well, I had flown in a war that had MADE history, and I was even in a few news articles as 'The Red Swallow'. They were usually the front page variety too. So, I had accepted the offer and stayed there.

Around the year 2006, a reporter from the Osean Broadcasting Corporation came to me and asked if he could interview me. I accepted, and let him into my study on campus, and he asked me questions about the Belkan War.

"Back then, I was bursting with pride," I had said. "I wanted to lead us to victory, for Belka's honour. Staying where it was nice and warm wouldn't accomplish anything. My flight's mission was to maintain air superiority in Area B7R, an essential area we couldn't allow to be violated. That day, when I heard the order from HQ for reinforcements, I became angry. The stationed force was in chaos just because of two mercenaries. There was no way the mighty Belkan Air Force could lose to mere mercenaries. My pride was shot and the Round Table was defiled. What went wrong? Whatever it may be, the fact remains that I was forced to walk a different path from the one I envisioned."

He thanked me for my contribution to his documentary that was called "Special: Warriors of The Belkan War". I promised that I'd watch it, and when I did, I was amazed at how many people the Demon Lord had shot down. At the end of it, the reporter said that "Whenever they talked about him, they always had a slight smile on their face. That, perhaps, may be my answer."

After about five years, an officer of the military approached me and asked for my assistance in a new war. He told me everything, and I knew that this was my chance to get back my pride.

I signed on, and shortly afterwards, I was flying again in a squadron preparing to fight for the Soviet Union.


	9. the new Espada Squadron

The new Espada Squadron

Andrius Luppino and Rosalia Kardos where lovers, and they where both pilots of the Sapin Air Force. After the Espada Squadron was reported shot down, and MIA, the Sapin Government decided to replace the two downed pilots with the two of them.

It worked out better that anticipated, and soon, the two of them were BETTER the old Espada team, even though they both flew the same types of planes. The two of them flew with a flawless efficiency that rivalled that of the mighty Erusian Yellow Squadron, lead by Captain Patrick 'Bird Dog' Roy, despite being fewer in numbers.

The two of them were also never very far away from each other even when they were on the ground. Because of this, rumours had spread throughout the Sapin Air Force that those two were sleeping together. There was no real meat to those rumours save the strictly circumstantial evidence of their PDAs (Public Displays of Affection).

Eventually, a reporter named Brett Thompson came to the base where they were stationed, and asked them if he could have an interview of the events that they had during the Belkan War. The two of them told the young reporter that he was mistaken, and he quickly apologized.

He left to find Marcela Vasquez, the only surviving member of the coup d'état Squadron that had once escorted the Giant flying gunship codenamed 'XB-0'.

After a while, the two of them decided that with no real missions to fly, to join the Soviet Union Air Force in a new war. They flew from Sapin all the way to Newfield Island, and were promptly debriefed by various other pilots as to what was happening.

After a heated, private debate, the two of them decided that they would join, and fly with the Soviet and various other nations' pilots.


	10. the new Gualt Squadron

The new Gualt Squadron

With the mysterious death of Gualt 1, the Belkan army had to find somebody to replace him. This was vital because Gualt Squadron was an extremely tough squadron to beat. It was one of Belka's best fighter squadrons.

The BAF (Belkan Air Force) officials looked throughout their entire ranks after the war's conclusion, and found that the only person who came close to fitting the bill was a new pilot by the name of Alex Lupus known as 'the wolf' to his squadron-mates.

He was young, almost a kid, really but he seemed to know his stuff. When the Air Force officials had him performance for them, they immediately decided to place him as Gualt 1. the rest of the Squadron's replacement went the same way, finding pilots from all other squadrons, and training them up to become members of the new Gualt Squadron.

By the end of the Circum-pacific Conflict, they had seven members. Not QUITE at their old strength of eight, but it was almost finished. However, one of the surrender conditions for Belka at the end of that conflict was that they hand over all of their elite pilots to the Soviet Union.

As you can imagine, this didn't sit too well with the BAF, but they had no choice but to comply, despite the fact that it was members of a secret organization called 'The Grey Men' and NOT the Belkan government.

With Gualt Squadron now in the hands of the Soviet Union, the pilots of that squadron were demoralized at first, but eventually, their spirits where lifted as the Soviets had promised that they could go back to Belka whenever they wanted.

Gualt Squadron eventually gained its last newest member and finally became a fighting force eight planes strong. Equipped with one of the best planes in the world, Su-47 'Berkuts', they were ready for any enemy the Soviets could throw at them.


	11. A Man Who Upholds Honour

'A Man Who Upholds Honour'

I was busy with the family business after the War's conclusion. It was fairly routine work, but it wasn't as interesting as when I was flying. During the Belkan War, I had been called an Ace because of my flying. In fact, I actually got my nickname from just that.

I still remember it clearly to this day: "Blue Herron". I flew under the code of knighthood, and it's not really surprising because I'm a descendent of the Belkan Knights. We protect the meek, and give our lives for honour, although that doesn't mean that we are generous, for generosity will cost us are lives.

Around a decade after the Belkan war, I was approached by an Osean reporter, who asked if he could talk to me about the Belkan War, and about Him, The Demon Lord. I was originally assigned to the stable Eastern Front for an air Superiority mission, but that was changed to Area B7R, the Round Table.

I was certain I would win against him because the pilot was still young, and had yet to master the rules of combat, but in the end, I was shot down. I'm still not quite sure how it happened, but I had to accept that fact.

Anyways, I took some time out of my schedule to have the interview, and I found that talking about him made me realise how badly I wanted to go back up and fly again.

But because of my business, I knew I couldn't. I then thought of something: perhaps just because I couldn't fly, that didn't mean that I couldn't have someone else go in my place. I told my wife about sending our daughter, Trisha, to fly. She always wanted to be just like me when I told her about my war stories, but she had no real intention of taking over the business.

My guess for that is that she didn't want to end up behind a desk for the rest of her life like I was.

My wife agreed, I called a few of my old friends in the military, and they called some of the people in the Soviet Union. She was let in with open arms, but we had all agreed that she send a letter home at least every two days so that we knew she was okay.


End file.
